20
Saint George Cathedral in Yuryev-Polsky
No comments · Posted by Sergei Rzhevsky in Architecture, History, Regions
St. George’s Cathedral, a white-stone church located in the central part of the ancient Russian town of Yuryev-Polsky in Vladimir Oblast, is an outstanding monument of ancient Russian architecture.
The cathedral was built by Prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich in 1230-1234. This was the last large white-stone church built in Rus’ before the Mongol invasion. In 1326-1327, on the model of St. George’s Cathedral, the first stone church was built in Moscow – the Cathedral of the Assumption. Saint George Cathedral in Yuryev-Polsky on Google Maps. Photos by: Pavel Labutin.
In the 15th century, a large part of the building collapsed. In 1471, by order of the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III, the cathedral was restored by the efforts of Vasily Yermolin, but it lost its original proportions and became much more squat.
At the same time, the architect, understanding the significance of the historical structure, did not replace the collapsed parts of the building with brickwork, but collected all the white stone blocks and the reliefs that decorated them. However, without having sketches of the church and its exact plan, he placed most of the stones arbitrarily, mixing up the plots, as a result of which a kind of “rebus” of white stone reliefs was formed.
The walls of the cathedral had unique reliefs, some of which have been lost. About 450 carved white stone fragments have survived to this day, including images of saints, as well as animals, birds and griffins. St. George’s Cathedral is the only ancient Russian temple with an image of an elephant.
At the end of 2015, by order of the Russian Government, St. George’s Cathedral was recognized as a particularly valuable cultural heritage site of the peoples of the Russian Federation.
And this is how St. George’s Cathedral in Yuryev-Polsky originally looked according to the reconstruction made by Dr. Sergey Zagraevsky.
Tags: church · Vladimir oblast
